Well she initially indicated that she was fasting to regenerate her metabolism that is what I'd see with the main problem of fasting and slowing your metabolism. If you are fasting to try to lose weight, increase your metabolism, etc then I think you are doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are fasting for spiritual/religious reasons, then that is something else.

Fasting will slow the metabolism, but it may just result in long term weight loss anyway IF it causes one to no longer put such great emphasis on eating, IF it causes one to learn to discern the difference between hunger and appetite, IF it can cause one to change one's tastes in food, IF it can cause one to break some bad habits etc. But I agree that those are more like side effects after fasting for more spiritual/philosophical reasons.
I had to jump in here on this thread because I am actually thinking of taking a spa vacation to a place where they fast (liquid herbal diet.) It is not described as being for weight loss, but more a yoga/cleansing/retreat kind of thing.

Good Question DEBBS ~ got us to put our thinking caps on ~ LOL!

The advice the Ladies have given on this thread is wonderful ~ I'm trying to eat much more natural as well. I know people who fast & pray for spiritual reasons only, but they do drink broths, fruit & vegetable juices, protein drinks, and water, which does give them calories. The only other one I have heard of is the Fish & Fruit fast; but you are also allowed the fruit & veggie juices; and megga amounts of fish and fruits ~ LOL.

I have never tried them and won't be either; cuz once I tried the FIT FOR LIFE program, I couldn't do it cuz it called for only fruit for breakfast and lunch; and a very lean dinner. I was working hard at the time; and always felt like I was starving (cuz I was ~ LOL).

I read in an article recently, that " DIETS " per se, where designed by doctors for emergency weight-loss for very ill patients; and were only meant for 21 days (3 weeks max) AND NO LONGER.

One study compared larger people to regular-weight persons that showed that many overweight people eat less than their R/W counterparts, BUT they also do SIGNIFICANTLY LESS overall energy-burning activies each day ... hmmm ~ how interesting ...

Mostly, DEBBS ~ I NOW think that good whole foods, balanced eating, and lots of exercise, in a consistent manner, is very important for a sustainable weight and optimum health. Just adding my opinion, that's all ~ ROSEBUD

aw Rosebud I really appreciate your thoughts on this

I really like the idea of a whole food diet (which really works for me since my son works at Whole Foods market!!!) so I think I will give it a try and if I fast I'll be sure to make it a liquid fast with broths and veggies juices etc so that I will still be getting some calories

Was That the 2003 Fit For Life book? I LOVE the 2003 edition. I read it 2 years ago and then re read it this summer to brush up on it. He does advocate fruit ONLY til noon. Which has never been a problem for me. I don't like a heavy breakfast. From what I got from the book, it is fruit til noon, then he advocates a carb or a protein for lunch along with salad and veggies. And vice versa for dinner. I love his books and I think there is a wealth of great info there but I am not going to say he is 100% on every thing.

Like what if I have beans for lunch? That is a carb and a protein. So is yogurt. So are most things you eat. lol Anyhow, I never seen him talk about a calorie limit, I actually remember him saying it is not about the cals, but it is more about having half living food(raw fruits and veggies) and keeping the "dead food" to half. By that he means anything cooked.

Now I do agree with him that we need to seriously up our intake of fruits and vegetables. For me what I do that works is fruit til noon, eat mostly whole foods,avoid processed and fast foods as much as possible, exercise and try to keep my cals to 1600-1700 a day. 50% carbs/20% protein/30% fat. That is what works for me though.

Fasting is part of a number of religions, as an earlier poster pointed out, but it was originally done for spiritual reasons and was not considered to have anything to do with weight loss. Also, fasting is part of some alternative health and wellness programs. But, in either of these, fasting is not done once a week, to my knowledge. Once a month, perhaps--or on special occasions during a year.

I'd agree with others who have said that eating sufficient vegetables and fruits, with measured amounts of whole grains, and avoiding highly refined foods and sugar will do wonders for naturally cleaning out your system. Also, you may want to limit fats (but we need a little bit of fat in our diet to stay healthy).

Good luck!

Jay

Thanks everyone for your advice you are all so nice and Jasmine that term "dead food" really gets me thinking.

I know people who fast for spiritual reasons and every one of them experience rapid weight gain following the fast because their metabolism is very slow